Also Tuesday, Buster Posey of the Giants rises to lead National League batters in 2017 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to seventh place in overall Box-Toppers player rankings.

Player of the Day—Sale struck out 13 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Rays.

Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 19.1 for the season. He maintains his rank of third in Box-Toppers season player rankings, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.1) and Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (21.0). He bolsters his lead among AL pitchers, ahead of second-place Ervin Santana of the Twins (14.4), who would now need at least three starts to catch Sale.

With 19.1 Box-Toppers points on the season, Sale also surpassed his previous high single-season total of 18.8 set in 2015 with the White Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Jake Lamb of the Diamondbacks hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 6-3 win over the Dodgers. Lamb went 2-for-4 and drove in five runs.

American League Batter of the Day—Brian Dozier of the Twins hit a grand slam and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 11-4 win over the Brewers.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Jake Lamb.

Rankings—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises from 10th to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Kluber (CG 3H R 0BB 11K W in the 4-1 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

It is the seventh time this season Kluber has earned Player of the Game honors. The previous six times he did it, he earned overall Player of the Day honors (worth 2.0 Box-Toppers points) each time. Kluber’s Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +15.0 would normally be high enough to again earn overall Player of the Day honors, but he was topped by Sale’s Box-Toppers game score of +18.0.

Notable—Buster Posey of the Giants rises to lead NL batters in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Posey (HR 2-4 2R 3BI in the 6-3 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.5 the for the season. He passes previous NL batting leader Nolan Arenado of the Rockies (8.2 Box-Toppers points). Posey ranks 29th among all players. His 8.5 points ties his previous single-season high of 8.5 he recorded in 2014. Posey leads NL batters in points, earning Player of the Game honors in eight of the Giants’ wins, even though his team has baseball’s second-worst winning percentage (.391), behind the Philadelphia Phillies (.373).

Debuts—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with their first career Player of the Game honors:

Kevan Smith of the White Sox (HR 2B 2-3 2R 4BI in the 8-5 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2016, and was playing in his 65th career game. He is the 3,872nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Mariners pitcher Casey Lawrence (2IP 2H 0R 0BB 4K ND in the 7-6, 10-inning win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut April 8 and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,873rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Jose Pirela of the Padres (2-2B 4-4 3R 0BI in the 7-3 win over the Reds) made his Major League debut Sept. 22, 2014, and was playing in his 109th career game. He is the 3,874th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Sale earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lamb earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Dozier earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).

Box-Toppers

Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.